POLL: Higher education is polarizing, lacks confidence of most Americans

Higher education is a polarizing institution that lacks trust. Currently, only 36% of Americans have significant confidence in the institution. 

That finding is according to a recent Gallup poll as Americans’ overall confidence in the college system has plummeted since 2015. 

Between 2015 and 2023, the share of Americans who have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education declined 36.8%. Simultaneously, the share of Americans who have “very little” confidence rose 144%. 

[RELATED: POLL: Less than 3% of surveyed Harvard faculty identify as conservative]

Currently, a plurality of Americans (40%) have “some” confidence in the institution. But that number hides a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats. 

Only 19% of Republicans express a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence while 59% report feeling those levels of certainty. That 40-point difference is much greater than responses according to age (up to 11 points), sex (6 points), and educational attainment (up to 21 points) groups. 

These results align with the left’s ongoing dominance of higher education. During the 2022 midterm elections, Campus Reform examined higher education employee political donations at the federal level. At the time of reporting, numerous major universities in Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey had over 90% of employee donations going to Democratic candidates. 

These institutions included the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Duke University, North Carolina State University, Montclair State University, and Drew University. 

[RELATED: MARSCHALL: Liberal bias on campus does not just happen]

Earlier this month, Campus Reform Editor in Chief Dr. Zachary Marschall spoke in Washington, DC, about leftist activism on college campuses and how it contributes to low viewpoint diversity in higher education. 

Marschall argued there is lacking oversight over how graduate programs incentivize leftist teaching assistants and student instructors to disregard viewpoints they do not agree with. 

The result is a “self-reproducing pool of grievance-driven scholars that lack curiosity about other people,” Marschall stated. 

The political imbalance is also present among undergraduate students. 

Of the 17 colleges and university Campus Profiles that Campus Reform has published in 2023, 11 of those schools have more liberal student organizations than conservative organizations. 

Those institutions are: California State University, East Bay, San Francisco State University, California State University, Sacramento, California State University, Los Angeles, San Diego State University, Long Island University, Brooklyn, Rowan University, California State University, Channel Islands, Sam Houston State University, California State University, Dominguez Hills, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Campus Reform reached out to all relevant parties for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

Follow Emily Fowler on Twitter.